UTSA volleyball (15-4, 6-1 C-USA) fought well and with much resilience, sweeping the Rice Owls (14-9, 6-2 C-USA) Friday night at the Convocation Center. The UTSA sweep (25-19, 29-27, 25-21) was led by senior Dajana Boskovic, who collected her sixth double-double with 14 digs.
Sophomore outside hitter Antonela Jularic also had a double with 13 kills and 14 digs.
They won the first set 25-19 with a .364 hitting percentage to Rice’s .182. The contest was close with several lead changes and ties, but UTSA fought hard to break away and won the set on a 9-3 run.
UTSA hit the floor running in the second set, pulling to a 19-12 lead.
The Owls wouldn’t let this game get out of hand, though, as they rallied to take a 20-19 lead.
UTSA pulled away 24-21, but Rice came back to tie. Neither team wanted to go down without a fight, but UTSA managed pulled away with a 29-27 second-set win.
UTSA stayed strong in the third set and won 25-21; the Roadrunners kept it close but eventually broke away for the win.
“This was a huge win for the team,” Boskovic said. “We know Rice is a really good team. It was a huge boost to our confidence.”
“They did very well. We had a few errors, but we gave it to them,” Head Coach Laura Neugebauer-Groff stated. “We just need to keep our focus and get ready for the next game.”
The Roadrunners went on to lose to C-USA leading Western Kentucky 1-3 on Sunday afternoon. UTSA (15-5, 6-2 C-USA) will head out of state this weekend to play UAB (11-14, 3-6 C-USA) on Oct. 28 and Louisiana Tech (10-15, 1-8 C-USA) on Oct. 30.
